COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONCLUDES FIFTY-FOURTH SESSION

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today concluded its fifty-fourth session and adopted its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Angola, Austria, Cyprus, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Hungary and Pakistan, on how these countries implement the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The Committee's concluding observations and recommendations on the seven reports will be available, at the end of the day on Monday 4 March, on the Committee's website.

During its three-week session, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in addition to the consideration of country reports, held informal public meetings with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions from the countries reviewed during the session. The Committee also held a closed meeting with representatives of United Nations’ bodies and specialized agencies.

On 18 February, the Committee held a half-day general discussion on women and access to justice as part of the elaboration of a General Recommendation on Women and Access to Justice, aimed at providing guidance to States parties on measures to ensure full compliance with their obligations to women’s human right to access to justice, particularly in the context of Articles 2 and 15 of the Convention. Speakers noted that the General Recommendation on Access to Justice would be instrumental for giving States parties guidance on measures that were necessary to eliminate obstacles often encountered by women in accessing justice in law and practice. Considerable progress had been made in clarifying the scope of the right to access to justice and the obligations rising from the Convention in this regard. The General Recommendation 29 was adopted by the Committee during the session.

Barbara Evelyn Bailey, Rapporteur of the Committee, introducing the draft report of the session, said that the document contained the concluding observations regarding the reports of the seven States parties considered by the Committee during the session. The concluding observations would be available on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for the Human Rights.

Nicole Ameline, Chairperson of the Committee, in her concluding remarks, thanked the members of the Committee and the Secretariat for their hard work. The Committee had carried out important tasks during this session, including the adoption of a General Recommendation and the half-day discussion on women and access to justice.

The Committee adopted its report for the session and the provisional agenda for the fifty-fifth session.

The 23 expert members of the Committee, serving in their personal capacities, monitor States parties' compliance with the Convention, often described as an international bill of rights for women. Adopted by the General Assembly in 1979, the treaty consists of a preamble and 30 articles, and prescribes national action to end discrimination against women.

The fifty-fifth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will be held from 8 to 26 July 2013 in Geneva, during which reports from Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Serbia, and the United Kingdom will be considered.